I have posted recently about the history of Minamata disease and recent developments in the news:
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/862037967202970 https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/863032493770184
This article is about Minamata disease as it manifested in Niigata Prefecture. The expression “Niigata Minamata disease” is, when you think about it, a little strange. It’s akin to an expression like “California Boston disease” in that Niigata and Minamata are completely different place names. After “Minamata disease” came to be understood to mean “mercury poisoning resulting from the consumption of contaminated fish,” however, the term was reused when a similar tragedy occurred in Niigata Prefecture.
There are many similarities between what occurred in Kumamoto’s Minamata and in Niigata: corporate disregard for public safety, failure to alert the public to dangers, discrimination, refusal to formally recognize suffering, etc. For more information, see the following articles.
http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/50-years-niigata-minamata-sufferers-still-seeking-relief
